FOCUS FEATURE: State of the Field 2017

The Foundation was established with the vision that focused ultrasound would improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for millions of patients.

2016 was our most successful year, and as a result we see this vision coming closer to reality. The dialogue has shifted from if focused ultrasound can become a mainstream standard of care to when it will.

The number and diversity of mechanisms by which focused ultrasound affects tissue are expanding, creating the possibility to treat an even wider variety of medical disorders. Indications currently in research, development, and commercialization have skyrocketed to more than 75 from just a handful a decade ago. The number of research sites, investigators, regulatory approvals, commercial treatment sites, and patients treated all show impressive growth.

The 2017 State of the Field Report includes new charts, graphs, and timelines not in previous versions. These additions present a longitudinal view of how the field has grown over time, further demonstrating its impressive trajectory.

The number of indications has doubled in the last five years with an overall shift toward clinical research and regulatory approval. At the time of the report, there were more than 75 indications in various stages of research, and more have been identified in the weeks since.

Focused ultrasound was first conceptualized in 1950, but clinicians abandoned the technique due to a lack of imaging capabilities. First-in-human treatments using focused ultrasound have exploded in the past decade, and we expect to see the numbers continue to grow.

Nearly 168,000 focused ultrasound treatments have been performed worldwide;* the vast majority of which have been for uterine fibroids and prostate diseases. Though brain treatments make up only a small portion of the total, the range of brain conditions treated is indicative of where the field is headed.